Information gathering, record keeping, and information sharing are critical elements in a wide range of businesses, governments, and/or other organizations. Many businesses, governments, and/or other organizations have tremendous resources invested in forms printed on, or otherwise constructed from, paper. For example, in the medical field, patient information may be stored on paper forms to keep records of office visits, diagnoses, laboratory test results, medical histories, surgical notes, radiology reports, etc., to name but a few examples. Typically, in the healthcare field, a healthcare provider such as, for example, a doctor, nurse, and/or technician, may make written and/or printed (perhaps with a typewriter or a computer printer) entries onto an appropriate paper form for the given purpose. Such forms may have been developed over a period of time and modified and refined to serve specific, special purposes, and to meet the particular needs of a particular organization. Further, healthcare providers may acquire a good deal of experience in working with the forms, and may receive training in using the forms. The development, training, and experience acquired may represent a significant portion of the tremendous resources invested in the forms.
One difficulty that organizations may face in using paper forms to gather and store information is the difficulty in sharing the information both within a single organization and between different organizations. Other difficulties encountered may include the archiving and retrieval of information stored on paper forms. Accordingly, organizations are increasingly turning to electronic techniques and systems to gather and store information.
Reference is made in the following detailed description to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, wherein like numerals may designate like parts throughout to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and/or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of claimed subject matter. It should also be noted that directions and references, for example, up, down, top, bottom, and so on, may be used to facilitate the discussion of the drawings and are not intended to restrict the application of claimed subject matter. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense and the scope of claimed subject matter defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.